Another page on the FTDNA Web site is a forum where people interested in genetic genealogy can ask questions, get answers and discuss genetic genealogy. To access the forum, visit http://www.familytreedna.com/forum/.

Pictorial book depicts history of Round Rock

Williamson County and Round Rock had its beginnings about three miles east of Interstate 35 on Highway 79 at the site of a home, known as Kenny’s Fort. Built by Dr. Thomas Kenny and Joseph Barnhart in the Spring of 1839 the home served as a place of defense against Indian raids and served as a rendezvous point for the Santa Fe Expedition in 1841. It was also the site where the Archives of the Republic of Texas was captured in the Archives War while en route to Washington-on-the Brazos in December 1842 and returned to Austin.

It was from these historic beginnings that Round Rock evolved and grew. To document the historic and social growth of the town Karen R. Thompson recently published Round Rock Texas: From Cowboys to Computers, a two hundred page book packed with over four hundred historic pictures documenting much of the social history of the town. This is Thompson’s fifth book and her third on Williamson County and Round Rock. It is available for $48.25, which includes tax and postage, from Thompson at 7203 S. Ute trail, Austin, TX 78729.

Attractively laid out, the book tells the evolutionary story of Round Rock through pictures of historical sites and markers, pictures of buildings, pictures of people at work, family homes and historic buildings. There are also pictures of military scenes, churches, weddings, funerals, holidays, sporting and athletics and pictures of famous and infamous people who lived in or visited Round Rock. Included in the book is a picture of the only known photograph of the outlaw Sam Bass.

Anyone interested in Round Rock will want a copy of this book.

Family History Fair planned in Huntsville

The Walker County Genealogical Society will hold their 3rd Annual Texas Genealogy and Family History Fair on Saturday June 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Walker County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall in Huntsville.

Admission to the all day event is $8 and includes lectures, a family information swap meet and exhibits staffed by book dealers, libraries, genealogical and patriotic societies and family organizations.

The class will incorporate American land records in the period of the colonial era to Manifest Destiny. It will explain the land granting process, how property was transferred from one person to another and how genealogists use such records for tracing families.

Tuition for the class is $30 and pre-registration is required. For more information and to register contact Leisure Learning at 713-835-5539.